General Specifications
These general specifications are for complete, press-ready digital files. They must be met in order to process your job. Please review the nine general specifications below as well as the application specifications carefully.

1. Color Mode
   All color artwork and/or images must be provided in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color mode. All black & white artwork and/or images must be provided in grayscale color mode.
   
   
2. Resolution
   All file formats must have a minimum of 350 dpi (dot per inch) resolution.
   
   
3. Bleeds & Margins
   Prepare your press-ready digital files by adding 0.125" dimensions to your document size.
   
   
4. Fonts
   Whenever possible outline all fonts, otherwise all used fonts must be collected. If fonts cannot be outlined, be sure to include both screen and printer fonts.
   
   
5. Other Specifications
   For all lines and rules, be sure the thickness is no less than 0.25 pts. Lines less than this value may not print properly or may be converted by our servers.
   
   
6. Templates
   All files should be built using SharpDots templates. These templates include marks that are important to the production of your card.
   
   
7. Page Orientation
   The diagram below demonstrates how SharpDots will orient the front and back of customer supplied artwork based on a "Head to Head" format.
   
   *Please note that for all UV coated jobs, the side labeled "front" or indicated as "page 1" will be UV coated. Sides labeled "back" or indicated as "page 2" will not be coated.
   
   
8. Submit PDFs For No Proof Workflows
   If you choose "No Proof" as a workflow, your artwork must be submitted in PDF format. Submitting files in any other format may delay your order. If you choose Soft Proof, or Hard Proof as a workflow, then you may submit artwork in our accepted native application file formats.
   
   
9. Catalog Submissions
   Catalog submissions should be submitted as one PDF file.

Important:
Digital files not meeting these specifications may be returned and corrections will be requested in order to proceed with your job. Not meeting these specifications will delay your order, or may add additional costs.

1. Color Mode

The color mode of submitted files must be CMYK. CMYK refers to the primary colors in art production: red, blue, and yellow. If your files are submitted using any other color standard, such as RGB or Pantone, they will be converted to CMYK. Conversion from one color standard to another may cause colors to shift do to gamut constraints. By having you do your own conversions, you can control the color result of your printed piece.

Gamut Constraints
When we look at the RGB and CMY color models—which are essentially models of color production—we see that the gamut of colors we can reproduce is far less than what we can actually see.

While not precise, the illustration below clearly shows this.

RGB
Red, green, and blue are the primary stimuli for human color perception and are the primary additive colors. The relationship between the colors can be seen in this illustration:

CMY(K)
Cyan, magenta, and yellow correspond roughly to the primary colors in art production: red, blue, and yellow. In the illustration below, you can see the CMY counterpart to the RGB model shown above:

Rich Black
Rich Black (C-60 M-40 Y-40 K-100) should be applied to larger fills of black or font sizes greater than 3/8" wide to ensure a dense color. Our rich black ink total is 240%. Any ink builds greater than 240% may not print properly.

Black & White Artwork
All black & white artwork and/or images must be provided in grayscale.

2. Resolution

Scanned Images
Image resolution is important for quality results. If you scan any photographic images, you should scan them at a minimum 350 dpi (dots per inch) and at the actual size you intend to print them. All scanned images should be submitted as CMYK images in EPS or TIFF file format.

*Scanning photographic images at a larger resolution than 350 will not help to increase the quality of your raster image. It only makes the file size larger than they need to be and may introduce more problems to your file. Larger resolutions are required only for line art.

Line Art
Line art images (1-bit tifs) should be scanned at a minimum 600dpi (1200dpi preferred) and at the actual size to be printed.

Low Resolution Images
Beware of using images saved as JPEGs and used on web sites. Images used on web sites are optimized for screen/monitor viewing. These images tend to be only 72 dpi and are too low of a resolution for commercial printing.

*Your monitor displays images between 72 and 96 dpi. To adequately view print resolution on a monitor, you should zoom in 400%.

See examples below:

Images scanned at 350 dpi will print great!

 
Images scanned lower than 350 dpi will print badly!

If an image is low resolution can I increase the resolution in Photoshop?
No, you should never increase the total pixel dimension of the image. Your computer will try to interpolate (calculate and add) pixels that are not there. The result will be a printed image that looks fuzzy and blurry.

Images interpolated to 350 dpi will print fuzzy and blurry!

To correct a low resolution image, you need to re-scan your image at 350 dpi and at the actual size you intend to print them. Beware, scaling your images up when placing them in layout programs (Quark Xpress or InDesign) will lower the image resolution.

3. Bleeds & Margins

In order to print a color to the edge of a sheet of paper, we must actually print past the document size, and then cut the paper to size. This is called a bleed.

If your image is not white on all four sides, you MUST include bleeds in your files. Add quarter of an inch (.25") to each dimension to allow for cutting. For example, a 3.5" X 2" business card with full bleed, the image size should be submitted at 3.75" x 2.25" (red box below).

.125" (1/8”) on each edge of the card will be trimmed off during the cutting process. This will leave you a 3.5” X 2” standard business card (black box below).

Your type (text) should be .125" or 1/8 of an inch inside the cut box on each side, represented by the green safety box below.

The cutting process for printed materials has a mechanical tolerance of about .0625 or 1/16 of an inch.

What's a bleed?
It is the portion of the card that will be trimmed off when cut to the final size.

Why bleed?
The purpose of a bleed is to continue a color, image or design to the edge of the card.

Critical Elements Margin
All critical elements (text, images, logos, etc.) must be kept at least 0.125" inside the edge of the margin line. Anything left close to edge may be cut off during trimming.

Borders
We recommend no borders due to shifting in the cutting process, borders may appear uneven. If you must have a border in your artwork, it is essential that your design use at least .25 or 1/4 of an inch of white space from your border to the cut line to maintain a symmetric appearance. If the border is solid, and bleeds to the edge of the card, be sure to include bleeds with your file. If you are using a line border, be sure to make the line at least .25” thick to assure the line prints correctly.

4. Fonts

Whenever possible outline all fonts, otherwise all used fonts must be collected. When collecting fonts, be sure to collect screen and printer fonts.

Do not stylize or use Multiple Masters fonts. Stylizing fonts in programs like Quark Xpress is not recommended and may cause output problems.

*Stylizing fonts by selecting the stylize buttons like italicize in programs like Quark Xpress is not recommended. If available, select the stylized font in the font menu instead.

Use only PostScript type 1 fonts. True Type fonts may be supplied, but we recommend against using them since we cannot guarantee their integrity in our systems.

Please do not submit fonts less than 6pt., as the fine lines in text this small may not print properly.

5. Other Specifications

For all lines and rules, be sure the thickness is no less than 0.25 pts. Lines less than this value may not print properly or may be converted by our servers.

6. Templates

All cards must be submitted on SharpDots templates. These templates include marks that are important to production of your card. You can either design your card within the template or simply copy your finished design onto it.

7. Page Orientation

*Please note that for all UV coated jobs, the side labeled "front" or indicated as "page 1" will be UV coated. Sides labeled "back" or indicated as "page 2" will not be coated.

8. Submit PDFs For No Proof Workflows

Submit a PDF!
If you want a faster turnaround time, select "No Proof" for your proof type, and submit a PDF. Review our PDF specifications. Submitting files in other file formats when "No Proof" is selected may delay your order.

9. Catalog Submissions

Catalog submissions should be submitted as one PDF file and include the following:

• Single pages (not printer spreads)
• Bleeds to all edges of page (1/8" min.)
• Fonts/images embedded
• CMYK color mode. (RGB/Pantone colors will be converted)

Place all pages in sequential order as the book would open to the viewer's eye.

Page 1 is always the cover and the last page should always be the back cover.

* Except in the case for perfect bound books in which the cover may be submitted as a separate file due to adding spine width which would include the front cover, spine width and back cover together.

A native file can be included in case of any last minute changes/adjustments needed, but please include any fonts or links necessary.

Please follow the rest of Sharpdots basic artwork guidelines as required.